The present invention relates to a system for editing characters and graphics through a computer so adapted as for a data to be entered by pen points.
Generally, the method for editing characters and graphics through a computer system includes, for example, the entry of characters and graphics by operation of a keyboard of the computer system. This method involves assigning a particular key to a particular character or graphic or a request for editing and executing the particular processing when a user selects the particular key.
It is also known that an object for editing can be selected by a user from a display of graphics prepared in advance. This system employs a selecting device for selecting the object for editing, such as the keyboard, a pointing device, e.g. the mouse, the joystick or the trackball, fingers or the electronic pen. It is further Known that the method for the display of an object of editing on an editing screen can be employed for the display unit or that a display unit different from an editing screen such as the graphics tablet or the like can be employed therefor.
Furthermore, it is known that the keyboard is combined with the selecting device and that characters are entered through the keyboard as well as the graphics and the requests for editing are entered through the selecting device.
On the other hand, it is known of a computer that allows the entry of characters and graphics as well as editing operation to be executed via the pen point entry without using the keyboard.
In particular, the method for the editing operation by utilizing the pen point entry method includes a gesture that is designed on the basis of correction symbols for correcting sentences. The gesture means to translate the movement of the pen point into an editing command, as disclosed, for example, in Nikkei Byte, pp. 232-239, No. 4, 1991.
A conventional editing technology for editing characters and graphics via the pen point entry method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. 62-190,565. This technology involves displaying on the display screen an editing mode comprising commands, such as characters recognition, graphics creation, manual entry, and so on, and having the user designate the particular command on the editing mode through the pen point entry, thereby providing for the determination of the characters, the graphics or the request for editing.
Further, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. 64-13,682 discloses the technology of determining on the basis of the attribute such as the number or length of continual bit data groups of a manually written data if the manually written data represents characters or graphics.
In addition, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. 1-237,882 discloses the technology of providing for the entry and recognition of the characters and graphics entered through the pen points and for the operation for editing by entering a particular graphic shape through the pen point entry.
For the conventional technology as described hereinabove, the method utilizing the keyboard generally requires special training for operating the keyboard. Further, this method requires a multi-dimensional data of a graphic to be converted into or replaced with a one-dimensional dimensional data such as a sequence of characters or symbols, so that this method can be said to be less suitable for graphics processing. In addition, the method utilizing the keyboard can be said to be efficient for the operation by employing the particular graphics only to thereby select the object of displaying; however, it is less efficient for the entry of characters.
Furthermore, the device utilizing the graphics tablet becomes expensive. In addition, in the event where the editing is executed by utilizing both of the keyboard and the graphics tablet, the keyboard is required to be replaced with the graphics tablet or vice versa during the operation of the device. This is very laborious in handling.
On the other hand, the conventional editing method utilizing the pen point entry requires the editing mode to be replaced or shifted whenever the editing operation is needed. This method is also laborious in handling and time consuming. Further, this method suffers from the disadvantage that the pen point entry cannot be employed for the editing operation. It is also disadvantageous because this method requires the keyboard, too.
It is to be noted that, generally, they write characters or graphics on paper with a pencil or the like and additionally write characters or graphics or a request for editing without paying any particular consciousness to an editing mode, when they wish to correct the characters or graphics written on the paper. Hence, the conventional methods place limitations to the user, the location of usage and the time of usage. Further, they do not provide the user with the way of operation as natural as writing characters and graphics on paper with a pencil or the like; hence, they present the problems that the area of utilization of the computer cannot be expanded in the field of the graphics processing.
In addition, the technology as disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. 64-13,682 contains nothing about the pen point entry for the editing operation for editing characters and graphics and such editing operation. Further, even if this technology could be so extended as to utilize a gesture command, it cannot recognize the gesture command correctly because it cannot distinguish such gesture command from recognizable characters or graphics having a shape similar to the gesture command. On the other hand, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (Kokai) No. 1-237,882 discloses to the effect that the operation of processing, such as setting parameters, data storage, data retrieving, data deletion, hard copy and so on, can be made from the menu selection screen through the keyboard. This technology is remote from the editing procedures via the pen point entry.